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Cooking for me is very stimulating. It combines equal portions art, science and adventure! Every new dish I prepare is like a journey of discovery which I feel like sharing with others, and hence this blog.

I’ve always loved cooking, first with my mother and then since marriage, with my mother-in-law. Both of them have taught me many of the dishes I’ve cooked and also encouraged my interest in learning about these dishes. While my mother’s cooking was mainly from south Karnataka, my mother-in-law’s is from the coast, mainly the Udupi/Kundapura region.

Since moving to the US, I’ve also been exposed to many other cuisines from around the world. Trying them at home, and making them a success has been a very satisfying experience.

I’ve modified many of the recipes that I’ve come across, either to make them vegetarian, or to make them easier to make, or even to make them more flavorful. Sometimes for all three!

I hope you find something you like in my blog. Do try these recipes and let me know if you like them. Your comments will be highly appreciated!

For the love of cooking

Tag Archives: Coriander

Another yummy, appetizing chaat from Indian streets… One of the vivid memory I have of eating chaats in India is this one! I have a very good friend who is living in Chennai, India. She loves street chaats and knew every street vendor in our neighborhood. Besides her boyfriend, I was her best companion for eating these, as I enjoyed having them too! Rain or shine, we had these chaats every week and relished it to the fullest.

This is one among the few that I miss here. Though, I find many chat corners… none of them taste like the one we get in India. So I thought I would make it myself.. After researching and trying different masala puri recipe versions, I fell in love with this particular recipe. I felt this recipe is the best of all that I have tried and have been making at home every single time I think of eating “one plate of masala puri” :).

Method:
Dry roast all the spices until light golden brown, then add coconut and fry for a minute and keep it aside.

Grind the spices with coconut, red chill powder and 1/4 cup of water to a smooth paste. Add the toor dal and grind again for a minute.

Take the ground paste in a heatproof pan and add half cup of water to liquefy it. Add salt, sugar and cook for a 5-6 minutes. Add the cooked peas and allow the mixture to blend well. Add more salt if needed. The gravy should not be too thick or too thin.

Crush 4-5 puris on the serving plate.

Spread about 1-2 ladle full of gravy.

Top it up with some grated carrot.

Then add chopped onions

and a layer of sev.

and finally with some cilantro! Serve immediately. (Add the topping according to your taste)

Wondering if I am on a pani puri fever? Yes, I am 🙂 Its usually weekends that I get to make all these wonderful chaats so I can completely enjoy it with my family. The addition of onions sev( fried chickpea noodles) and cilantro with hot and sweet pani tantalizes your taste buds.

Grind all the above ingredients except salt, amchur powder and lime juice until smooth. Sieve the mixture with 1 cup of water, making sure to squeeze everything from the ground mixture. Add four more cups of water to the liquid extract and mix black salt, amchur powder and lime juice to it. Adjust the flavor according to your taste buds. Refrigerate at least for 2 hours before serving for best results.

Sweet chutney:

Tamarind extract-1/2 cup (remove extract from tamarind by adding 1/2 cup of luke warm water to a orange size tamarind or use 2 to 3 tbsp tamarind paste and dilute with water)

Heat the tamarind mixture and jaggery in a heat proof bowl and boil it for 5-10 minutes until the mixture becomes thick (pouring consistency). Mix the powdered mixture to the chutney. Cool it before serving.

Preparation:

Soak the dry green peas in water for 8 hours. Cook potatoes and soaked green peas in a pressure cooker or microwave until they are soft adding a teaspoon of black salt.

Keep all the ingredients handy. Mash the potatoes well.

Make a hole in the center of the puri making sure not to break the sides or the bottom. Add 1 or 2 tsp of cooked green peas, 1 tsp of mashed potato.

Then fill it pani and add a tsp of sweet chutney leaving just a little space for garnishing. More the pani, better the taste of pani puri

Add 1/2 tsp of chopped onions.

Garnish with sev and cilantro. Best way to have this is to make it individually and have it immediately. ( I made these together just for the pictures!)

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By default, I know my husband will shop for bok choy if he goes to the Asian market. Recently he went shopping to the chinese market and I for sure knew I would find bok choy in the shopping bag, and I was right. Thankfully he had not missed on tofu or mushrooms which made my life easier :). Quickly I took out all the ingredients and made the soup in no time. It’s such a simple and healthy soup that anyone would fall in love with the flavor, aroma and its taste.

“Bhel puri” can be described best as Indian street chaat which wakens your taste buds with an explosion of colors, textures and flavors. Its mainly made with puffed rice, fried chickpea noodles (sev), vegetables, hot and sweet chutneys and not to miss cilantro and raw mango.

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I met my MIL’s cousin a few months ago, she is so friendly and an enthusiastic cook. She cooks a variety of dishes from different parts of the world, She had an opportunity to travel around the world with her husband during his career and thats how she learnt so many cuisines amazing well. Tehri is a dish which I learnt from her and is a favorite rice dish in our family gatherings.

Soak washed rice in water for half an hour. In a pan add ghee, when hot add cloves, cinnamon, tej patta. Add onions and roast until golden brown. Now add green chillies, crushed ginger and garlic, fry for a minute. Add all the vegetables, coriander powder and chilli powder(adjust the level of chilli powder according to your spice level). Add salt and mix well.

Drain the water in rice, add the vegetable mixture, mix well with rice. Add 1 and half cup of water and cook until done. ( I cooked the rice in rice cooker). Serve hot with any type of raita.

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Few years back, I had visited my aunt and uncle who were living in Jalandhar, Punjab. My aunt had a cook who used to make amazing rotis and parathas. I had a really good time eating variety of parathas with full fat yogurt and the best mixed vegetable pickle that he made. Ofcourse with the delicious food that I enjoyed, I also gained some weight :). I really dont regret eating so much though. So, this paneer paratha was thought by the cook and never forget him nor his recipes.

To make the dough: Mix the wheat flour with half cup of hot water, 1 teaspoon oil and ¼ teaspoon salt. Mix it well and make it into dough, cover and keep aside.

For the filling: Mix grated paneer with rest of the spices mentioned above, chopped coriander and salt.

Take a little bigger than lemon sized dough. Roll it to ½ inch thickness and smear ½ tsp oil. Add 2 tbsp paneer mixture in the center. Lift the sides of the dough and bring it to the center. Flatten it a little and roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness by adding gentle pressure to the rolling pin and making sure the filling doesn’t come out. You can sprinkle little wheat flour and roll the rotis making sure the dough do not stick to the bottom.

Roast it on a hot griddle adding little ghee or oil on both sides. Serve it with yogurt and pickle or any other side dish of your choice.

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Majjige HuLi is most favorite to people of Bengaluru/ Mysoru. It is very tasty, simple, easy to prepare dish made of single vegetable with yogurt and gravy. It goes really well with rice, muddhe or nuchinunde. We can prepare this dish with a variety of vegetables, like bendekai/ okra, seemebadhnekai/Chayote, boodhkumbaLakai /Ash gourd, dantina soppu/Amaranthus , thondekai/Tindora. Today I prepared it with dantina soppu/Amaranthus.

In a vessel, heat a glass of water and add the chopped leaves, let it cook for few minutes until tender (add little salt while the leaves are cooking). Meanwhile grind coconut, green chillies, coriander, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds , 1/4 tsp of mustard seeds and channa dal with little water. Grind to a fine paste. Add the ground mixture to the cooked leaves. Cook till the raw smell goes away (approximately for 8- 10 minutes). Add the yogurt/majjige at the end and mix well. Add more salt if needed.

For seasoning- Heat 2 tbsp of oil, add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds and curry leaves. Allow the mustard seeds to splutter. Add the seasoning on top the majjige huLi and its ready to serve.